All will be of vital importance. But the men at the sharp end of
the F1 business who are wrestling with the technical challenges of
this year's rule changes all indicate that tyres, or more
specifically, tyre usage, will be the key this season.

Williams driver Mark Webber slammed the new rules as ridiculous
and said the changes would turn grand prix racing into an "economy
run".

From the start of this year only one set of tyres a race will be
allowed, a change that will mean enormous challenges for
tyre-makers, who will have to produce rubber that will last a full
race distance and not wear out too quickly.

Drivers, too, will need to find a balance between going as fast
as they can to gain track position but without destroying their
tyres by halfway.

Webber said drivers would be forced to nurse their cars. "One
set of tyres for the race? It's ridiculous. God, it's an economy
run. What is this?" he told Auto Action magazine.

To add to the frustration of many drivers, from next season much
smaller 2.4-litre V8 engines will replace the 3.0-litre V10s now
used. "To detune a car to where a Formula Renault would blow it
away, then we may as well pack up," said Webber.

Jenson Button, the BAR driver who scored 10 podium finishes last
year, shares Webber's view about how difficult things could become
for the hard chargers at the front of the grid, although he admits
it might make things look more spectacular for the TV and trackside
audience.

"Now the car is so difficult to drive, people will go 'Wow,
that's good, it makes it more exciting', but it doesn't," said
Button. "In the last 15 laps of the race the car is pretty
undriveable."

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve joined the debate,
saying the winners of the first few races of the year will almost
certainly be those drivers whose teams are first to come to terms
with the tyre regulations.

BAR technical chief Geoff Willis echoed the drivers' concerns.
"This is a reining in of car performance," he said.

"The lap-time loss on new tyres on the first lap is probably
going to be relatively small. It will be the lap-time loss in the
last 20 laps of the race, when you are struggling to hang on, when
we are going to have to back off."

· The Holden Racing Team has reportedly pulled off a coup
by signing former formula one test driver James Courtney for its V8
endurance races this year.

Courtney, who tested for Jaguar - now the Red Bull team - will
drive a Commodore at the Bathurst 1000 and Sandown 500.